There Is Nothing Lost
by Betsy Boo
Summary: It's been ten years since Sarah defeated Jareth but she is about to learn gone is not forgotten.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or any characters in it but I hope to in the future when my plan to conquer the fourth dimension of time pays off.  
  
I only discovered this website a few weeks ago and it looked like you were all having a whole heap of fun so I thought I would give it a go. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to lie if you don't. I am from England by the way so I say things like 'pavement' instead of sidewalk. Hopefully this isn't too confusing. Vive le difference.  
  
Chapter 1. You Will Be Queen  
  
STORM clouds rumbled angrily overhead flinging fat drops of rain into the New York twilight.  
  
The sweltering heat of summer had been building for weeks turning the city into a sticky mass of frustrated workers.  
  
Red faced weathermen had been predicting the storm for days now but the pressure had continued to grow until an hour ago when the sky had suddenly darkened.  
  
Sarah Williams looked out of the newsroom window at the eerie blue-grey evening and smiled. She loved storms. The crackling air made her senses come alive in a way nothing else seemed to anymore.  
  
And they reminded her of him. He was just like a storm. Dramatic and frightening but also thrilling and revitalizing. It had been stormy the night they first met ten years ago.  
  
Sarah hadn't seen Jareth in all that time but she thought about him often. Too often.  
  
Sometimes she thought she lived more in a fantasy world now than she ever had as a teenager.  
  
Work pressures and living with other people had prevented her from calling on her Underground friends as much as she would have liked and now she rarely saw them at all. She had given up acting to become a journalist and loved her job. But she still couldn't shake the feeling she was simply killing time, waiting for something or someone to consume her again.  
  
"Ten years is a long time to wait for you Jareth." She said to herself out loud.  
  
Down below crowds of office workers were hurrying through the downpour holding carrier bags and brief cases above their heads as shelter from the torrent.  
  
The storm had deadened the usual rush-hour sounds of the city creating a sense of stillness despite the frantic scene on the streets.  
  
As the first flash of lightening sliced through the storm, Sarah switched off her computer and made her way out of the New York Times office.  
  
Stepping out onto the street she turned her face up to the sky and let the heavy rain cool her skin.  
  
JARETH sat in a window of his castle gazing out across the Labyrinth absent- mindedly turning a crystal over in his hands.  
  
A violet sunset was sinking out of sight over the eastern edge of his kingdom and the first of the Underground's two moons was creeping from beneath the horizon. Goblins milled in the city below.  
  
Jareth was thinking about Sarah, something he had been doing more and more lately.  
  
He thought of the last thing she'd said to him.  
  
"You have no power over me."  
  
With those six words his world had turned upside down.  
  
Yes she had surprised him by beating his Labyrinth but more than that she had made him realize he no longer wanted to be alone. He had spent thirteen hours watching her, making sure she didn't come to any real harm. It made him want to take care of her all the time.  
  
On the night he sent her home he sat and watched outside her window as she called for her friends but not for him. Flying off into the moonlight he promised himself he would also find someone to love.  
  
He had cleaned up the castle, set about rebuilding the Goblin City and attempted to find a queen.  
  
But after embarking on a series of disastrous relationships Jareth realized it wasn't just love he wanted...it was Sarah.  
  
Using his crystals he often called up her image and watched as she grew from an unhappy confused teenager into a confident, beautiful young woman.  
  
He saw the way other men looked at her and wanted to gouge their eyes out so he could have her beauty all to himself. He was jealous of every friend she had, every thing she touched...  
  
Suddenly with a jolt he heard her say his name.  
  
Calling up her image in the crystal he saw her standing in the rain and his heart missed a beat.  
  
"I've waited far too long" he muttered to himself. In a flash of glitter he disappeared.  
  
BY the time Sarah reached her apartment she was soaked to the skin and starting to feel chilled.  
  
Brushing the wet strands of hair away from her face she fumbled to find the key in her purse but as she leaned against the door it swung open.  
  
"I've got to stop doing that," Sarah scolded herself as she dumped her bag in the hallway and headed straight for the shower. She was amazed to find hot water at that time of night. Normally all the other tenants had used it up.  
  
After ten minutes of letting the piping water run over her body she stepped out of tub, put on her robe and wrapped her hair in a fluffy white towel. She walked to the kitchen, opened a bottle of wine and flopped down exhausted on the sofa. Within seconds she was sound asleep.  
  
Jareth stepped out of the shadows where he had been watching her for the last fifteen minutes. He had planned to appear in a magnificent show of sparkle and glitter and seduce her back to the Labyrinth.  
  
But on seeing her for the first time in ten years all his nerve left him. She looked adorable, soaking wet, fumbling for her keys. He had opened the door for her with a flick of his wrist but then felt bad when she thought she had left her home unlocked all day.  
  
Now she lay asleep on the sofa looking like the teenager he remembered. Innocent, all in white, strands of dark hair starting to escaping from the towel, still pink from the hot water he had enchanted for her.  
  
He pulled a chair next to the sofa and watched her sleeping.  
  
"How could I have stayed away from you this long?"  
  
Sarah shifted in her sleep and a strand of hair fell across her face. Jareth brushed it away and as he touched her she breathed deeply as if sensing he was there. He leaned close, whispering in her ear.  
  
"Come back to me. You can have anything you want. Your dreams. You don't even have to love me. Just promise you will never leave."  
  
He wanted to touch her again but was scared of waking her up.  
  
Her steady breathing and the heady smell of her being so near to him after all this time was intoxicating. It was making him sleepy. He lent his head against the side of the sofa for a second and before he knew it he was asleep too, dropping the crystal ball he had been holding onto the floor.  
  
Something told her he was there before she even opened her eyes.  
  
Somewhere in her dreams Sarah heard the sound of the rolling crystal. She had never felt so peaceful and didn't want to wake up but the noise was tugging her back to consciousness.  
  
And there he was. Jareth! In her living room, his head lolling on the arm of the sofa, as serene as a sleeping child. The air around him seemed to sparkle. She sat up and noticed he had covered her with a blanket. The small gesture touched her.  
  
"Jareth" she said quietly to herself.  
  
Sleepily, the Goblin King opened his eyes but on seeing her awake he stood up so fast he knocked over the chair he has been sitting on.  
  
They stood staring at each other for what seemed like a lifetime.  
  
"I... er...I...Hello Sarah." He said regaining some composure. "I didn't want to wake you. I must have dozed off."  
  
Sarah stood up and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"You said my name. I thought you might...er...need me."  
  
"You heard me?" Sarah asked amazed.  
  
She had forgotten how he made her feel. She was scared he would be able to see her heart beating in her chest. He had obviously made an effort to fit into her world, wearing black trousers and a dark grey shirt, the top two buttons undone. His hair was short and the eye make-up had gone. Even without his usual kingly dress he exuded importance.  
  
"You needn't sound so surprised. If I couldn't hear you we would never have met in the first place. We have always had a...a... connection."  
  
He was aware his cool exterior was beginning to slip. Why did she have to look so bloody breathtaking? "Then why have you never come before?" Sarah challenged him.  
  
"Because tonight is the first time you have ever said my name out loud. I though you had forgotten about me."  
  
He had intended the words to sound sarcastic but instead he just sounded sad. He played with the cuff of his shirt.  
  
Sarah suddenly realized he was right. She had thought about him everyday since she left the Labyrinth but had never once said his name.  
  
Her silence began to make him irritable. "Well then" he said, "What did you want? I do have a kingdom to run you know."  
  
"I...I..." Sarah stammered, desperate not to reveal her true feelings.  
  
"Come come...what is it to be? Another sibling to be whisked back to my castle perhaps?"  
  
He knew he was being unfair but couldn't help it. Her presence was getting to him. He wanted to provoke a reaction.  
  
"You won't beat me a second time Sarah. The Labyrinth was still developing when you conquered it. Now it is all grown up." He said the last sentence with a wicked gleam in his eye.  
  
"Well so am I." Sarah said, starting to get annoyed.  
  
"Oh it's no gone unnoticed." Jareth took a long appreciative look at her figure, grinning malevolently.  
  
"Your manners haven't improved much." Sarah blushed angrily, pulling her robe closer round her.  
  
"I am just pointing out The Labyrinth is far more dangerous than it was." He said turning away to look out the window. "Even I don't know all it's murderous little nooks and crannies anymore. It's gone positively wild."  
  
"I would have thought that would have made you want to send me there all the more. Anything you could do to hurt me..." Sarah spat at him. Jareth span round, a confused look on his face.  
  
"I would never have let anything happen to you...you must know that?" His genuine look of concern threw Sarah for a second.  
  
"Well it's a pity you weren't having that thought when you had me thrown into an oubliette, or had me chased by the cleaners or tipped into the bog of eternal stench with Hoggle..."  
  
"Well you bloody kissed him..." Jareth shot back at her.  
  
"What?" Sarah started at him confused.  
  
Jareth regained his composure. "Sarah, I was watching you every step of the way. You were never in any real danger. If you had been I would stopped it. It was just a game."  
  
"A game that almost cost me my life, and my brother's!" Sarah said exasperated.  
  
"Don't pretend you didn't want to play. You had spent your entire life preparing for the role. I just gave you the chance to act out your dream. After all...you were the one who wished Toby away."  
  
"Hey...wait a minute..." Sarah said suddenly realizing, "I haven't wished for anything. You've broken the rules. You shouldn't have come just because I said your name. That's not in the book!"  
  
Jareth suddenly looked flustered and began to fiddle with his cufflinks in earnest. He opened his mouth to speak but no words would come. Sarah suddenly felt sorry for him.  
  
"Not that I am sorry to see you..." she admitted.  
  
Jareth looked at her with one eyebrow raised and she blushed.  
  
"That is to say...I..." she took a deep breath, "I miss the Labyrinth. I miss my friends.... I miss you."  
  
At the last three words Jareth's face lit up and he moved towards her.  
  
"You only needed to say my name and I would have been by your side in a second. Why didn't you just call for me?" his eyes fixed on her, his voice was deadly serious.  
  
"Because..." Sarah looked at her hands and finally admitted, "I was terrified you wouldn't come. I didn't think you would remember me."  
  
"Remember you? You have filled my every thought since I first saw you." He moved closer to her but she backed away. "I need you Sarah. I thought things would go back to normal after you left but you opened a door I can't seem to close. I don't want to close it. "Just let me love you...and I will give you everything you want."  
  
He was so close now his magic was making her head spin.  
  
"This doesn't change anything Jareth...you can't disappear for ten years and then turn up and what, expect me to fall into your arms?"  
  
"Just give me the chance to show you." He pulled out a crystal ball and held it in front of her eyes.  
  
Inside was the bubble ballroom with a tiny Sarah and Jareth dancing. But this time there were no other masked dancers and she didn't pull away from him.  
  
Sarah watched transfixed as the little figures whirled together and finally kissed.  
  
"It's my dream..." she said amazed.  
  
"No it's not." Jareth looking intently into the crystal, "It's mine. Come with me back to the Labyrinth. Let me show you. It can be ours."  
  
"I need more time."  
  
"You can have all the time in the world. I'll give you forever." With a flick of his hand all the clocks stopped in Sarah's room.  
  
"That's not what I meant." Sarah said exasperated.  
  
"I'll give you anything...everything."  
  
"I simply don't have the closet space for 'everything'." She said laughing  
  
"Tell me what you want me to do." His pleading look stopped her giggles.  
  
"Ok...well let's start with a date."  
  
"A date?" Jareth looked confused  
  
"Yeah...you know you take me out for the evening...we get to know each other."  
  
"But we already know each other. We have known each other for ten years." His bewildered expression made Sarah laugh.  
  
"All I know about you is that your are a despotic, Goblin King with a penchant for crystal balls. I don't know anything about you at all. We're got all the time in the world remember. We might as well put it to some use."  
  
"I could think of better uses to put it too." He said reaching for her.  
  
"You don't get the cake until you've done the baking." Sarah said stepping away from his touch, despite every inch of her body telling her to do the opposite.  
  
"Fine. We'll play by your rules. I'll come for you tomorrow evening."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"Where the wild things are of course. Underground." And with that he vanished in a sprinkle of magic dust. 


	2. Please Fall In Love With Me

Disclaimer – I do not own the Labyrinth  
  
Thanks for the reviews. You may have noticed the first chapter disappeared and got a bit re-jigged. Hopefully it is easier to read now. I and also bowing to pressure that Jareth should be more arrogant. Your wish is my command although it jars a bit with the first chapter...but hey... Anyway enjoy and please send in your comments.  
  
2. Please fall in love with me  
  
SARAH did not know how she got through the next day at work. It was a Friday and busier than usual in the newsroom because it was late summer and so many of the staff were on holiday.  
  
The storm had given way to a glorious fresh summer day with clear blue skies, creamy sunshine and a soft breeze which made New York seem unusually crisp for the time of year.  
  
After Jareth vanished Sarah thought she would never get back to sleep but she dropped off as soon as her head touched the pillow.  
  
A delicious scent woke up the next morning and she opened her eyes to find her bedroom full of crystal vases crammed with freesias and yellow tea roses.  
  
Golden sunlight poured into her window giving the room a hazy romantic feel.  
  
"I'll spin you mornings of gold," his words danced into her head as she got dressed.  
  
Another bouquet was sitting on her desk when she got to work, this time with a card which read simply 'Until tonight.'  
  
Sarah had a dreamy look on her face all day, a fact which had not gone unnoticed by the other members of staff at the paper.  
  
"Ok...who is he?" Sarah looked up to see her friend May, the deputy features editor, looking questioningly at the flowers.  
  
"Just someone from my past who flew in last night" Sarah said blushing,  
  
"Well he must have been one of the last who got, I heard they shut the airport because of the bad weather." May picked up the card, "Until tonight" she read, "You have a hot date! He must be something special."  
  
May had not known Sarah to go out with anyone since she had been at the paper despite the constant badgering from male members of staff.  
  
"He's..." Sarah didn't know how to explain her feelings for Jareth, "He's...out of this world."  
  
"Wow" said May, "And where has he been hiding all this time."  
  
"Underground", Sarah muttered before realizing what she had said.  
  
"Underground?? What is he some kind of hobbit?" said May confused  
  
"Oh...I mean...London, he lives near the Underground in London." Sarah recovered quickly. Well it's possible she thought, he's got the accent.  
  
May didn't seem convinced with explanation but let it go.  
  
"So where is he taking you?" she asked,  
  
"It's a surprise...things with him usually are." Sarah said laughing.  
  
SARAH arrived back at her apartment to find a large blue box sitting outside her front door. It was embossed in gold with a picture of a peach and she instantly knew it was from him.  
  
Carrying the box inside she lay it on her bed and opened it. Inside were sheets and sheets of purple tissue tied with a crimson satin ribbon.  
  
Pulling aside the layers the box revealed a stunning silk dress, the colour of deep rose, long and flowing with tiny spaghetti straps and a plunging backline. She held it up to herself in the mirror and smiled.  
  
"I take it you approve then," a voice broke into her thoughts. Standing behind her in the mirror was Jareth. She spun round but he was not there anymore. Instead where he had been standing lay another box, smaller the size of a pencil case. Carefully laying the dress on the bed she picked up the box and opened it.  
  
Inside was the most exquisite necklace she had ever seen. It was strung in layers of tiny roses, each petal crafted from tiny sparkling rubies.  
  
"Jareth," she breathed, "It's incredible."  
  
"Aren't you ready yet.... she turned to see Jareth sitting on a chair in the corner of her room yawning and playing with a crystal. "We're going to be late."  
  
She looked down at her crumpled work clothes, "You're going to have to give me time to have a shower and get changed..."  
  
He tossed her the crystal and she caught it. When she looked down she was wearing the dress and the necklace, her hair and make-up immaculate.  
  
"Jareth..." she shot him a look, "Half the fun is getting ready"  
  
"Sorry...I couldn't wait." He moved over to stand behind her with his hands on her shoulder while she looked in the mirror. She shuddered at his touch but then suddenly, as if losing interest in her, he moved her to one side so he could admire his own outfit.  
  
He was wearing similar clothes to how Sarah had remembered him in the ballroom but his coat was jet black and sparkling.  
  
"Hmmm..." he mused fiddling with his shirt cuff, "I do wear black well don't I. It brings out my eyes...one of them at least. I rather think green works better with the left one."  
  
Sarah was staring at him, gobsmacked, her mouth wide open.  
  
"Sarah...it is rude to stare...although I suppose you're only human."  
  
He chuckled to himself at the last words, straightened his jacket and held out his arm for her.  
  
"Well...shall we?"  
  
AS Sarah took his arm she felt a warm fuzzy sensation which made her close her eyes thinking she might faint. When she opened them again she was standing in a huge ballroom which was teeming with hundreds of people.  
  
The room was incredible with huge vaulted ceilings in midnight blue with tiny glittering stars and cherubs gazing down at her. Pink and gold drapes adorned the huge windows. From the outfits it looked like a Venetian ball but Sarah was grateful to find nobody was wearing masks.  
  
When the crowd caught sight of the couple they burst into rapturous applause. Many of the beautiful women curtsied while other whispered behind fans shooting coy glances in Jareth's direction.  
  
Jareth gave a small regal wave, obviously thoroughly enjoying the attention of the moment.  
  
"Where are we?," Sarah whispered to him.  
  
"Why, my kingdom of course. You didn't think the Goblin City was all there was to the Underground did you? We're in the walled city of Murus. It only opens its gates to visitors for one month of the year. The city's artisans have been working all year for the exhibition."  
  
"What exhibition?" Sarah asked. The crowds were so huge they were blocking the exhibits although it was clear they milling round pictures on the walls and sculptures.  
  
"Why my exhibition of course!" Jareth clapped his hands and the crowd dispersed through doors at either side of the great hall revealing hundreds pieces of art.  
  
To Sarah's amazement from every corner of the room images of Jareth stared back at her.  
  
Portraits of the Goblin King playing with his crystal balls, a statue showed him in dipping a Goblin into the Bog of Eternal Stench while another sculpture depicted him in a romantic clinch with a wood nymph.  
  
"It's wonderful isn't it!" said Jareth taking her by the hand. "Look there's even one of you up here."  
  
Jareth took her hand and led Sarah to a huge painting hung on a nearby wall. It showed him, at least six inches taller than Sarah, glaring down pompously at her holding Toby while she groveled at his feet as the clock behind showed Thirteen o'clock.  
  
"I had this one commissioned for the throne room..." said Jareth gazing up at the picture.  
  
"Hey...that's not how it happened." Sarah snapped at him. "I beat you. By Thirteen o'clock me and Toby were safely back at home."  
  
Jareth shrugged and turned away from the painting, "Call it artistic licence."  
  
"It's a LIE," said Sarah starting to get annoyed.  
  
"Come come Sarah, you know that not everything is as it seems in the Labyrinth." He winked at her.  
  
"Ah I see you are admiring my painting," came a sickly sweet voice from over Sarah's shoulder. She turned to see a beautiful blonde haired woman approaching, a sparkling black ball gown clinging to her stunning figure.  
  
The woman held out her hand to Jareth who, bowing deeply, took it and kissed it.  
  
Sarah felt the first pangs of jealously as she looked at the pair of them and suddenly felt inadequate. They seemed to match perfectly with their black outfits, blonde hair and striking good looks.  
  
"The painting is wonderful Moriana," said Jareth, "And I suppose I don't need to introduce you to Sarah, the likeness is quite realistic."  
  
"It's about the only thing that is," shot back Sarah before she could stop herself, "How could you paint such rubbish. You might grovel before Jareth like that but I can categorically say I never have and I never will.  
  
"And the only thing that is that big about Jareth is his ego!!!"  
  
Sarah knew she had stepped over the line by the look on both Jareth and Moriana's faces.  
  
"Sarah...you will keep a civil tongue in your head when you talk to my friends in my kingdom."  
  
Jareth's tone was as cold as ice and it brought pinpricks of tears to her eyes.  
  
She turned away so he wouldn't see and stood for a moment taking deep breaths and trying to regain her composure.  
  
The awkward moment was suddenly broken by Jareth: "Would you like to dance?"  
  
Sarah spun round expecting to see him holding out an affectionate hand but instead all she saw was him walking to the dance floor with Moriana on his arm.  
  
As the music started up the room was swamped by dancing couples and Sarah was suddenly engulfed by swirling bodies as she desperately tried to find Jareth in the mob.  
  
After what seemed like minutes of hunting she caught a glimpse of him, his arms around Moriana's waist with a dreamy look on his face and she felt her heart break.  
  
JARETH was dancing with Moriana but his mind was elsewhere despite the stream of suggestive remarks she was making in her ear.  
  
"Why can't she just accept I have to be this way in my own Kingdom," he thought to himself sulkily.  
  
Deep down he knew she was right and felt bad. He should have told people the truth about what happened in the Labyrinth but he had been too embarrassed.  
  
Instead he had concocted a story in which he had granted mercy on her at the last minute and allowed her to go home. None of his subjects knew the truth of what had happened in the Escher room and after. What would it do to his reputation if they knew what really happened?  
  
Suddenly he caught sight of her moving through the crowd. She looked fragile and upset and was being pawed from all sides by leering men.  
  
A strap of her dress had slipped from her shoulder and as he watched a woman bumped into her catching the beautiful necklace he had given to her and ripping it from her neck, scattering the tiny roses across the floor.  
  
As she bent down to pick up the precious stones Jareth saw the tears in her eyes and a wave of love washed over him.  
  
He whispered something in Moriana's ear and she looked at him surprised before glancing at Sarah, shrugging petulantly and moving off.  
  
Jareth came up behind Sarah and put his arms round her waist pulling her to him.  
  
"Look, I've told you I'm not dancing..." she said for the tenth time, instinctively pushing the grasping hands away. She glanced round and was shocked to see Jareth standing there.  
  
"I want to go home. Send me home this instant." She glared at him.  
  
"Sarah...I think I need to explain." He slipped an arm around her waist.  
  
The noise of the room suddenly died away and she realized she was standing outside Jareth's castle in the moonlight.  
  
Sarah tried to pull away from him but he held her steady. She looked at him defiantly.  
  
"I'm sorry, tonight hasn't exactly gone to plan." Jareth admitted.  
  
"Sarah. I'm used to getting anything I want." He said, gazing into her eyes.  
  
"But I realized tonight the only thing I do actually want might be the very thing I can never have.  
  
"You still see me as the wicked Goblin King from your dreams and I can't seem to help but live up to your expectations. And yet I get the feeling you don't want him anymore.  
  
The sincerity in his words was causing Sarah's resolve to crumble. He looked defeated.  
  
"When I am in your world I can be who you want me to be. But not here," he continued,  
  
"Here I am expected to act in a certain manner and I thought you could live with that but I am not sure you can. The light doesn't exist without the dark Sarah.  
  
"If you stay it will never be an easy life but I will love you until the stars burn out." He pulled out a crystal similar to the one he had offered her ten years ago and held it up to her face.  
  
"I can still offer you your dreams but I can't promise you your fairytales."  
  
They stood for a minute watching each other in the moonlight, both unsure what to do.  
  
"You have no power over me," Sarah said at last. Jareth's face fell at her words.  
  
"But you do have my heart. And I give that freely."  
  
His head shot up as if scarcely believing what she had just said.  
  
"You hurt me tonight," Sarah said at last looking into his hope filled eyes.  
  
"Yes...." He said brushing a strand of hair away from her face.  
  
Sarah took his hand in hers, "Don't do it again." she said simply, placing her head against his chest, then wrapping her arms around him.  
  
He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent and he held her close beneath the light of the Underground's two moons. 


End file.
